A Colorado manufacturer of high-capacity ammunition magazines stepped into the raging debate over gun control by throwing down an ultimatum: If state lawmakers pass a bill restricting the size of magazines, the business will move elsewhere. Magpul Industries has firmly planted itself against state Democrats who are looking to tighten control over firearms after mass shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and another at a Connecticut elementary school. It's a highly visible step for a company that has flown under the radar, admits Magpul's founder and chief executive, Richard Fitzpatrick.

NEW YORK - The nation's toughest gun control law hasn't taken full effect, but New York state lawmakers are considering tweaking the restrictions, especially if the gun owners happen to be from Hollywood. Exempting filmmakers from the assault weapon ban passed in January is a measure under consideration by legislators in the state capital, Albany. Another possible change that lawmakers say might be necessary: exempting law enforcement officials from the ban. Speaking to reporters this week, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo described the possible changes as "technical corrections," not the scaling back of a law that the National Rifle Assn.

WASHINGTON - The centerpiece of President Obama's initiative to lower gun violence, a law that would require background checks for nearly all gun purchases, is in danger of stalling in Congress, signaling a steep climb for any potential changes to the nation's gun laws. New regulations on private sales appeared the most likely reform to pass Congress after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in December. But no legislation has been introduced to expand the background check requirement even though a key committee in the Democratic-controlled Senate is scheduled to begin deliberations on gun proposals Thursday.

A conservative Missouri lawmaker has proposed a bill that would send his fellow lawmakers to prison if they propose more gun-control legislation. H.B. 633 , proposed by Mike Leara, a St. Louis County Republican, would make it a felony punishable with up to four years in prison for anyone who "proposes a piece of legislation that further restricts the right of an individual to bear arms, as set forth under the second amendment of the Constitution of the United States. " The Missouri representative's bill follows other proposed cantankerous legislation coming out of that state, where the state's House of Representatives passed a bill that could imprison government officials for up to a year if they enforced President Obama's Affordable Care Act. Another recent bill would have essentially severed Missouri from the federal government.

We've all heard the saw about California being hostile to industry. Here's an industry that indisputably has grounds for complaint: the gun industry. Finally, the Legislature is getting something right. According to many experts, California's firearms regulations are the toughest in the nation. (New York's recently enacted rules may be tougher, but they're still being rolled out.) California may soon get even tougher: a slate of proposals outlined this month by legislative leaders in Sacramento would add new regulations and close a few loopholes in the old. "There's a lot for folks here to be proud of," Ben Van Houten, managing attorney at the San Francisco-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, told me. "But there's still a lot of work to do. Federal law is astonishingly weak, so it's incumbent on the states to do as much as they can. " Taken together, the state's firearms laws are a model for regulating sales and possession of a dangerous product without banning it entirely - or even necessarily cutting much into the commercial market.

WASHINGTON - In Alaska, state House Speaker Mike Chenault says he's heard complaints from all over the state about the federal government "trampling" on gun owners' 2nd Amendment rights. In Pennsylvania, state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe declares that gun control advocates have "gone far enough. " And in North Dakota, state Rep. Roscoe Streyle says, "We know what's right for our citizens. " They are among a wave of lawmakers in at least 20 states who are pushing back against the Obama administration's drive to pass tougher gun laws after the Newtown, Conn., school shooting.

WASHINGTON - When President Obama implored Congress on Tuesday to take up the thorny issue of gun violence, he did so in the name of Nathaniel Pendleton Sr. and Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, whose 15-year-old daughter, Hadiya, was killed just two weeks ago in Chicago. "They deserve a vote," he said in an escalating refrain echoed by legislators gathered for his State of the Union address. He recited other individuals and communities shattered by shootings, such as Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn.

Washington -- More than 20 House Democrats are planning to bring people affected by gun violence to President Obama's State of the Union address next week as part of an effort to press for new gun control measures in Congress. Each member of Congress may bring one guest to the State of the Union address, which Obama will deliver Tuesday beginning at 9 p.m. EST. As of Friday afternoon, at least 23 House Democrats had committed to bringing people affected by gun violence, according to Jonathon Dworkin, communications director for Rep.

Letters reacting to the search for Christoper Jordan Dorner , the disgruntled former Los Angeles Police Department officer suspected of a double homicide and the shooting three police officers, are finding their way into The Times' mailbag. Surprisingly, only one of those letters discusses the manhunt for Dorner, and the rest connect the shootings to the hot-button issue of the last few months: gun control. Readers responded likewise immediately after 26 people were shot, including 20 children, in Newtown, Conn.

The national effort to crack down on gun violence being led by President Obama is generating encouraging discussion in Congress, where until recently the subject of gun control had been largely taboo. That's good news. On the minus side, there's what is happening in California. Don't get us wrong, there are some worthwhile bills floating around in Sacramento. But most of the bills either introduced or under proposal seem primarily designed to seize headlines on behalf of individual lawmakers in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., school massacre.